New Judas Priest Album Has ‘Some Real Classic Moments’

Judas Priest producer Andy Sneap said that the band’s upcoming album includes “some real classic moments.” The follow-up to 2014’s Redeemer of Souls, and their 18th album overall, is expected for release early next year, even though no date has been confirmed yet.

“When I first got involved with them, I think we had about 26 ideas that we were working on, which we’ve whittled down to 14 or 15,” Sneap told Hardwired. “We haven’t decided on which songs or a running order for the album yet.” Singling out singer Rob Halford and guitarist Richie Faulkner, he added, “Rob’s singing great. Richie’s on fire.”

You can listen to the interview below.

Sneap also described how he introduced a different approach to the band’s recording process. “Glenn [Tipton] originally wanted to work on it like they have done on the last few albums, and use the demos as templates and work off that," he explained. "I made then actually play as a band. We really, really pushed the band to play together in the studio and we actually took tempos from them playing, rather than the demos. We pushed Rob on varying the patterns up a little on the verses. I think we’ve got quite a fresh feel on it, and quite an old-school approach at times.”

Even though he pushed Halford, Sneap was still impressed with the singer’s attitude. “For someone who’s got that much experience, there’s no ego there at all,” said the producer. “We’d do like six or seven passes and I’d ask him to try something, and he was like, ‘No problem.’ He’d give me another four takes with a slightly different vibe.”

Sneap also hailed guitarist Tipton's contribution, even though he discovered that they're very different artists. "Working with Glenn, he'd come up with things and you'd think, 'Oh, no. Don't do that,'" he recalled. "And then you do it, and it's like, 'That's Judas Priest!'"

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